Voting-machine.



N9. 763;43 6. PATENTED JUNE 28, 1904. N. SMITH.

VOTING MACHINE. nrmonxon FILED MAY 15, 1903.

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N. SMITH.

VOTING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED MAY 16, 1903.

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Patented June 28, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

NELSON SMITH, OF VANCOUVER, CANADA.

VOTING-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 763,436, dated June 28,1904.

Application filed May 15, 1903. Serial No. 157,260. (No model.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, NELSON SMITH, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residing at the city of Vancouver, in the Province of BritishColumbia, Canada, have invented a new and useful Improvement inVoting-Vlachines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improved votingmachine designed toautomatically record and enumerate votes for one or more candidates,while at the same time the register is entirely secret, though under thecontrol of the officer in charge, of the polling-booth to see that onlyone vote is recorded.

The construction and operation of my invention are fully described inthe following specification and illustrated in the drawings whichaccompany it.

Figure 1 is a cross-section through one of,

the vote-registers; Fig. 2, a longitudinal section through a series ofthem; Fig. 3, a detail showing the electric contact by which therecording of each vote is announced. Fig. 1 is a view which illustratesa modified arrangement of parts of my invention, whereby a vote may berecorded for any candidate who has not been previously nominated. Fig. 5is a perspective view of the interior of a votingapartment furnishedwith my devices. Fig. 6 is a cross-section taken practically on thelines 6 6 of Fig. 1. Fig. 7 is adetail perspective view of the rod 24and its connection with the member 23.

Each vote-register consists of aribbon or strip 2 of paper or similarmaterial adapted to receive the impress of a self-inking stamp. Thisribbon is coiled on a freely-rotatable reel 3 under the top A of a tableor inclosed frame, on which the apparatus is secured in each dividedapartment of the polling-booth, and one end of the ribbon is broughtthrough a slot or opening 5 in the top 4 and passing over a short smoothstamping-surface 1* is taken down through a similar opening 6 and coiledon one of a series of reels 7, secured to a shaft or spindle 8, suitablysupported in bearings and rotatable by means of a handle 9 on the outerside of the apartment.

The movement of the paper strip 2 off each reel 3 is checked by a spring10, which imposes a light frictional resistance between the spring andthe surface of the aperture 5, and the movement of the spindle 8 of thereels 7 is checked against backward rotation by a pawl 11, engaging aratchet-wheel 12, secured to the spindle within the casing.

Over each stamping-surface L is mounted a hand-stamp 13, which in thepractical arrangement of my invention is preferably an automaticall yactuated progressively numbering and self-inking stamp of any well-knownmake, and the shaft of the said stamp 13 is extended at the ends to formguide keys or projections 15 and 16. The projection 15 is designed toactuate an electric contact between the terminals 17 and 18 of anelectric circuit in which is an alarm-bell 20 and an annunciator 21outside of the voting-apartment when the hand-stamp is depressed,whereby to indicate both to the ear and eye that a vote has beenrecorded. The other produced guide 16 engages a pivotally-mounted detentor latch 22, which springs over 16 and retains the stamp in its lowerposition until released by means of a slidable rod 24:, which is inengagement with the lower ends 23 of the pivotally-mounted detents 22and is operated by a handle 25 outside of the voting-apartment.

A spring 26 tends to keep the detent-levers in the normal position ofengagement and permits the detent to spring over the end 16 when thestamp is depressed.

The mechanism of the stamps is inclosed by a suitable cover 27, throughthetop of which the plunger-handles only are allowed to project.

In use a-numbering-stamp and registeringribbon are furnished for eachnominated candidate, whose name is clearly indicated on each stampeither on the cover adjacent to each handleor, preferably, in the end ofthe handle itself, and the voter, having satisfied the officer of hisqualification, enters the apartment and presses down the handle hearingthe name of the candidate in whose favor he desires to record his vote,which operation thus impresses the desired number upon the ribbon andactuates the bell and the annunciator to indicate that the vote has beenrecorded,

the stamp being retained by the detent 22 in the downward position untilreleased by the pulling out of the handle 25 from the outside by theoflicer in charge, who also, by turning the handle 9, advances the paperribbons for the next impression without having any means of ascertainingon which ribbon the vote was cast.

Where it is permissible for votes to be given to persons who have notbeen previously nominated as candidates, one of the ribbons, as shown inFigs. 4: and 5, is not furnished with a numbering-stamp; but the paperstrip where it passes over the surface 4 on the upper side of the tableis protected by a coverplate 28, having an aperture which will permit ofthe name of a candidate being written on the paper strip.

Having now particularly described my invention and the manner of itsoperation, what I claim as new, and desire to be protected in by LettersPatent, is

1. In a voting-machine of the character described; the combination of asuitable frame and a table-top connected therewith having a pair ofopposing slots; a stamping mechanism mounted on the table between thesaid slots, the said mechanism including a verticallymovableimpression-roller, and a record-receiving mechanism which comprises areel, an impression-receiving band coiled thereon and which passesthrough the table-slots and under the impression-roller, a take-up reelfor the said bands, a trip device for holding the impression-roller inits depressed position, and

an annunciator and means for actuating the said annunciator controlledby the depression of the said impression-roller.

2. In a voting-machine as described, the combination with the frame anda table which forms a part thereof, said table having a pair of parallelslots inclined in opposite directions and an annunciator; of a stampingmechanism mounted on the table-top between the slots therein, saidmechanism consisting of a vertically-movable hand-stamp having lateralprojections 15 and 16, and an impression-band that passes under the saidstamping mechanism and through the opposite slots in the table, a rollerupon which one end of the band is coiled, a second or take-up roller forthe said band, the said roller being mounted under the table, a pivoteddog or trip adapted to automatically interlock with the projections 16of the stamp when it is depressed whereby to hold the said stamp in suchdepressed position and means for actuating the annunciator adapted to beengaged by the projection 16 of the stamp-roller, and a means forshifting the dog or trip to release the said stamproller, all beingsubstantially shown and for the purposes described. 1

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

NELSON SMITH.

